Day 4 – Katoomba

Another great day as we rose to the birds singing and we decided that Jenolan Caves was the place to be today. So the four intrepid adventures headed off at leisurely pace. The road in wasn’t to bad. Very narrow and windy with nice scenery added in but nothing spectacular – that was until we got to the caves. You have to drive through a cave to get to the caves and that was unexpected and remarkable. On the other side I guess you could call it the Jenolan Caves village is situated. The buildings are quite old and in pretty good condition and again was very pleasant. We did the orient cave tour and I know we have been to a few caves both in Aussie land and New Zealand but they never cease to amaze and all are quite different. I think we all came out better for the experience and our guide was a very pleasant chap indeed. Lots of stairs, lots of photos and stalagmites, stalactites, etc etc etc. It was pretty steep and narrow in a number of places so it’s just as well I have lost some weight! (Di’s laughing wants to know where).  Once out of the caves we had a relaxing lunch in the village before heading back. On the way home we went to the Rhododendron Gardens which is all managed by volunteers and is big at around 45 hectares. We explored about 1 acre and took a lot of photo’s. The varied and range of plants is incredible and is such a magnificent show. We had the privilege of being serenaded by frogs which echoed strangely around the valley.

Last stop on the way home was Govertts Leap lookout and again there is the wow. I said on our New Zealand blog you become a little blasé about the beauty after  a while but there is always something incredible, picturesque or interesting everywhere.

Now we decided that coffee was in order to complete this day so we tried a place called “Common Ground” alternative would be one way to describe it but hey we are adventurous people. It was a fitting end to the day and very pleasant although I wouldn’t have been surprised if I started seeing fairies and skipping through the tulips. Ahh well we shall sleep well tonight.